David Cronenberg

» A world-renowned innovator in filmmaking, David Cronenberg is best known as one of the principal founders of the “body horror” genre, a style of psychological horror film, characterized by bodily transformations and infection. David Cronenberg grew up in a middle-class Jewish family in Toronto. His father was a journalist, his mother a pianist. As a child he reflected the influences of each parent with his passion for writing and pursuit of classical guitar.

» He had a fascination with bugs and strong interest in botany, which led him to enrol in the honours science program at the University of Toronto, though eventually he switched to study English language and literature, where his interest in film blossomed.

» Known for shooting in Canadian locations, Cronenberg developed an avant-garde visual style that defamiliarized the familiar, creating a backdrop of unreality for his violent, horrific storylines. Often depicting sexual brutality, his films broke rules and challenged audience expectations.

» In 1975, release of the sexually explicit Shivers set off furious debate around public funding of his work. Subsequent films, such as Crash (1996), met with restrictive film classifications and critical condemnation. For Cronenberg and his work, controversy became the norm.

» Nevertheless, he persevered, not only as a director, but as a producer, writer and actor. In 1999 he was immortalized on Canada’s Walk of Fame and won the Silver Bear Award at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival. Many awards followed, including being named to the Order of Canada in 2002 and winning the Cannes Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

» The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. David Cronenberg is currently screening his latest movie, Cosmopolis, at the Cannes Film Festival, alongside his son, Brandon Cronenberg, who makes his international directorial debut with a red-carpet screening of his first full-length feature film, Antiviral.